Daniel Lavoie: the official website

France-Inter Interview

Radio France Inter
1st January 2003

First impressions of Le Petit Prince
Daniel Lavoie: From the start, I found that Jeff had the right look for the Petit Prince. He wasn't at all shy. He has gained a tremendous amount of self-confidence from the time I first saw him.

Journalist: Daniel Lavoie, when you decided to get involved with the little fellow in the desert, was it because you are still a bit of a child yourself and you wished to remain so?
Daniel Lavoie: I believe that we all stay a bit like the small boy or girl that we were, that's obvious. I find the magic of St Exupéry's texts to be so that the interpretation is very broad, that's to say one sees there what one wants to see. There is a certain nobility in this text that makes you rediscover your better self. It's very broad and it's also very free. I believe that there's not just one interpretation of the "Petit Prince", there are as many as the people who listen to and hear it. Above all, it's a message which touches part of us, I believe that it's our better self which we like and of which we are proud. Besides, St Exupéry's genius is to make us go looking for the key to the understanding of the book, which I believe no-one will ever find. On the other hand, the more people concentrate on the message of the book, the more they will understand and it's that I find wonderful in this book.

Journalist: "Le Petit Prince", it's a bit like …. if you have problems, "Le Petit Prince" will make you feel good…
Daniel Lavoie: It's very poetic as the Petit Prince said … Yes, I believe that this show and this book make you feel good. It's certainly something that gives the impression of forming a focus in our lives. It's a moment of focus because I don't know how long this focus will last when one goes to see "Le Petit Prince". That's why you must come back and come back each week, I strongly recommend you to do it….

Journalist: At the time when "Le Petit Prince" was announced as a musical, some people could be a bit scared. Did you also fear seeing it as out of the same stable as "Star Academy"?
Daniel Lavoie: You know, I didn't believe that it was from the same stable as "Star Academy". I knew that Richard Cocciante, who wrote the music, would not himself do anything like "Star Academy". I had an idea that the show would be very beautiful, very poetic. And, at the same time, I said to myself, "Well, that becomes a bit annoying because it misses the main point". I was a bit afraid but inasmuch as no one could explain it to me, inasmuch that I came in there and discovered that there were so many ways of making the show beautiful, interesting and touching … for all that, without being boring. I believe it has accomplished its air because it's a show which stays very gentle, very touching and finally, I believe, very beautiful, it's absolutely not boring or tiresome. I see tears in everyone's eyes each evening and I know that everyone has been touched. For me, it's this which is the most important in a show of this type.

Journalist: Jeff truly flabbergasts you, Jeff and the other kids who play the part of Le Petit Prince. You seem tremendously confident but one can see that someone like Daniel Lavoie would be scared of getting involved on stage with children. Were you scared?
Daniel Lavoie: I will not pretend that I wasn't scared almost every evening, except perhaps with Jeff, because Jeff is now a big professional. He never puts his foot in it … But with the others who perform in the show less often, I'm scared each evening, I never know how I'm doing or how it's going and, amazingly, each evening we succeed and it goes ok, but I will not pretend that it's not unsettling to play with kids as anything could happen.